Can a landlord certify its own service charges?

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Q: The owners of flats in my building have a dispute with the new landlord
about service charges. Since 1990 the annual service charge accounts have
been signed off by an accountant (at our cost) even though this is not a
requirement of our leases. The new landlord has dispensed with the
accountant and signed off the accounts itself. Is there anything to prevent
the landlord from “self-certifying”?

A: If a lease specifically requires annual service charge accounts to
be certified by an accountant or a chartered surveyor the courts will
usually treat this as a “condition precedent” to liability.